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Theme 5: Finance

Topic 5.1: Sustainable means of financing local water authorities and systems

Major investments are required in the water sector to meet the Millennium Development Goals and to face global changes. The capacity to lend is there, but the capacity to borrow is not: what can the different stakeholders do to increase their borrowing capacity and what do financing institutions need to do to adapt their products to the requirements of the borrowers? What can local governments do to become more reliable financial stakeholders so that 11 operators and utility managers can make investments to expand coverage and improve service delivery? What non-traditional financing mechanisms are possible to improve watershed management?

Topic 5.2: Pricing strategies to ensure fairness and sustainability

Pricing strategies are supposed to respond to financial, social, economic and environmental sustainability policy objectives, but tariffs alone may not be an appropriate vehicle to deliver on social policy objectives. Work on this topic will seek to uncover the main trade-offs between urban supply, rural supply and irrigation service provision, including strategies for pricing sanitation supply.

Topic 5.3: Pro-poor policies and strategies

While sufficient financing is essential for expanding service coverage to meet the needs of poor communities, many financing mechanisms do not truly serve the poorest populations. A number of specific financial and legal solutions will be investigated to accelerate access to affordable water supply and sanitation service provision for the poor.